


brekekekex, koax, koax

by oncewewerezombies



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Sburb/Sgrub Sessions, Alternia-Focused, Aradia is secretly Troll Indiana Jones, Archaeology, Caliginous Romance | Kismesis, Established Relationship, F/M, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, Frogs, M/M, Polyamory, Quadrant Vacillation, not OHS approved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-06-17 03:26:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15452331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oncewewerezombies/pseuds/oncewewerezombies
Summary: When one of your quadrantpartners is a force of nature, being dragged along is sometimes all you can do.Also there are many, many frogs in the historical strata of Alternia and nobody knows exactly why.Aradia is determined to catalogue each and every one. Doing it alone is fine, but it's much more fun when it's with her partners in historical enquiry - as reluctant as they may be.





	brekekekex, koax, koax

**Author's Note:**

  * For [liasangria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/liasangria/gifts).



> aradia is like troll indiana jones and drags her boyfriends with her on adventures when said boyfriends would really REALLY rather just stay home and work on their various computer/robot projects. the dangers of having a thrill-seeking girlfriend! (heck, i'll accept a human au for this one, too. go nuts) - Request by liasangria

"C'mon, guys, it'll be fun!"

Your flush-quadrant's cheery voice drifts up to your ears from where she recently disappeared down a cavernous abyss, and both you and your erstwhile quadrant-corner (kismesis? occasional matesprit? You despair of ever having solidly defined concupiscent quadrants ever again) share a dubious glance. For once, you both seem to be in agreement and the agreement does not extend much belief in the firm statement that Aradia has just made. From somewhere, down there.

This does not look like fun.

It doesn't even look _survivable_.

She tied a rope to a rock at the edge of the chasm, but then she'd just rappelled down as though gravity was nothing but a minor concern. You suppose that for a psionic who could fly, it wasn't that much of a concern. It did remain one for you. Out of the three of you, you are in some ways, the worst suited to follow Aradia to the world below. Despite this, she'd invited you anyway. Invited? Coerced into coming along, dragged you. Not by physical force, of horse, you're very strong, much too strong for even a rustblood of Aradia's considerable talents to move by the power of her muscles alone but all the same - she's quite persuasive. 

"Yeah no, fuck this, I'm out," Sollux said flatly. Apparently despite his own gifts, he was going to decline the chance to explore the picturesque depths of the chasm. You despise his casual use of profanity, but you really must agree with him. This is really not a good idea. Despite Aradia's effusive protests to the contrary that she had showered the two of you with all the way here, before abruptly disappearing down into the depths of the earth.

"Cluckbeasts! Bawk bawk baaawk!"

You wince and press your fingers to your forehead as you're struck by suddenly the most abominable pain in the innermost parts of your thinkpan, radiating outwards in little pulsing lines of irritation. No matter what you do, Aradia's going to go on with or without you...and you think you'd rather it was with you. Sometimes she was a little too foolhardy for her own good. With a frown, you bend down and make a very careful survey of the knot holding the rope around the outcropping of stone that Aradia had thrown it around. You're impressed even if you don't want to admit it. It's quite secure. More secure than you would have thought for something so. So _basic_. There's not a piece of technology in sight, it's just rope and a rock.

"Don't tell me you're seriously thinking of going down there," you hear the mustardblood say with barely audible dismay as you start to pull up the rope that Aradia has left dangling. If you hadn't come to know him so much better than you had ever thought you would (or would ever want to), you wouldn't have know that was what it was. To the uninterested onlooker (onhearer? Eavesdropper perhaps is the best word), it wouldn't sound like dismay or concern at all. Merely pure disdain. "AA's a big girl, EQ, she can look after herself...and if she couldn't, I would know."

Oh yes. The voices of the doomed. If Sollux isn't hearing Aradia's voice in the cacophony that he must hear, considering the facts of life on Alternia, then she will probably be fine. But what if she's not? And just because she's not doomed, doesn't mean something might not still happen. You check your backpack, make sure it is securely fastened about your shoulders and not likely to slip or throw you off balance. The look Sollux gives you through his bi-coloured lenses is tinged with sudden alarm, and dawning dismay. 

"I think it would be best if one of us accompanied her, at least," you say in a deliberately mild voice (intended to antagonise and by his bristling, he has indeed taken just the right degree of affront to your tone), and take the rope in both your hands, wrapping it around the heel of one palm, down around the length of your upper arm, looping it so there's no slack. Your gloves are more than enough to give you grip and save you from friction burns on the palms of your hands. Carefully, you keep your hold on the rope and walk backwards to the edge of the chasm, take a breath. It's really...a very long way down. "You can stay here. I don't think she'd be offended."

"Oh, wouldn't she be?" Sollux snarls, and he steps forward as you start to ease yourself down over the lip of the chasm, breathing out the drop of horror in your stomach as you sally forth into the unknown, following Aradia's lead. It's not quite as bad as you would have thought, there's plenty of places to put your feet. Good tension in the rope as you steadily let yourself down, keeping your boots on the wall and feeling your biceps and the muscles in your back take up the strain. And Aradia had already done it. So obviously it could be done. You carefully don't think about how she has a lot more experience in this endeavours than you. You really, _really_ wish you were at hive, with your robots. Aurthour would be just about to bring around a fresh round of towels, and perhaps even a glass of milk... "If you think that, you don't know our AA...fuck. I didn't even want to _be_ here...I had stuff I was going to _do_ today...the Colony is about to swarm and jegus fuckin' god, I hate this..."

You can hear him still complaining from above you as you lower yourself into the darker world below, the soft light of the moons only giving you so much light before your (e%cellent, it must be said) nightvision has to compensate. He doesn't make a move until you're about halfway down and then he passes you without a care as your muscles protest the slow descent that marks your progress that you are carefully, cautiously making to the floor of this underground chasm. Arms crossed, misshapen pointed fang digging into his lip as he frowns, glowering and crackles of red-blue static energy light him up from horns to toe. You sigh, and keep moving as he passes you, a sphere of ball lightening that casts flickering shadows on the rock. You wouldn't want him to help you anyway, truth be told. Being lifted by psionic energy is an _unsettling_ experience, to say the least.

And it always put such a frizz in your mane.

Once you finally reach the floor, Aradia and Sollux are already waiting for you. Aradia's arm draped along the pointy slopes of Sollux's shoulders and you bury a tremor of dismay as you let go of the rope. Your route back to the surface. Sometimes you. You really wonder what she sees in you. You loathe Sollux with a hatred born of both professional dismay and utter contempt for his disregard for cultural mores, but Aradia could destroy you with a glance. If she wanted to.

"Come on, I've been waiting _ages_ for the two of you to see this!" she laughs and drags Sollux along with her despite his disgruntled whining to throw her other arm over _your_ shoulder. Despite yourself and your tendency to hide your feelings, you know your expression has visibly lightened. Sollux laughs at you, his little nasal 'ehehehe' going straight to your hindbrain in a wash of spades and then tries to dig a clawtip into your cheek. Before you can swat his hand away, she intercepts it with a tsk! "Nope! Nooooope! I won't have you fighting down here - it's not that stable. And I don't want to lose this site. I can't wait until you see it. It's so cool!"

And with that, you're both dragged off willynilly to see what Aradia has discovered.

Even if you don't want to admit it out loud yet, the temple that Aradia has discovered down here truly is magnificent. Her theories about the frog imagery and why they're worked into and around what are obviously troll signs is fascinating, even if it sounds vaguely heretical to your ears. Contrary to popular teaching, at least. The Empress approved kind. You make a mental note to quietly discuss with her the possibilities of slowly, _very cautiously_ distributing her research. Maybe you can talk to one of the highbloods in your strange little clade, and get a seal of approval in a cooler colour on it. Just in case.

But right now? You don't bring it up. You wouldn't want to curb her utter enthusiasm for all she's showing you, her obvious passion for what she's found, not for the world. Both you and Sollux share a sideways glance as Aradia extols the wonders of the particular piece of carving she's showing you, and he shrugs, before you both refocus on what she's saying. Maybe it's a good thing she dragged the two of you out of your respective workblocks today after all.


End file.
